I have written an article for the January issue of Pottery Making Illustrated on the revolutionary "Skinner Blend" technique of blending colored clay.
Colored Clay has been my passion for over 20 years and for the past two years I have been working on adapting this polymer clay technique to our earthen clays.The ease and intuitive simplicity of this process makes using colored clays so much easier and quite frankly, so much more FUN.
I hope you all enjoy the article and if any of you do decide to try the process, let me know if you come up with any new twists on it.

Oh, I look forward to getting my copy in the mail. I took a course from Susan Nemeth this summer at La Meridiana, using her colored porcelain techniques, and found it very interesting....and hard! Haven't used it yet in my own work, but plan to, soon. So I look forward to learning more about your process.

I have written an article for the January issue of Pottery Making Illustrated on the revolutionary "Skinner Blend" technique of blending colored clay. Colored Clay has been my passion for over 20 years and for the past two years I have been working on adapting this polymer clay technique to our earthen clays.The ease and intuitive simplicity of this process makes using colored clays so much easier and quite frankly, so much more FUN. I hope you all enjoy the article and if any of you do decide to try the process, let me know if you come up with any new twists on it.

Read the article today-Excellent. I thought it was interesting. I have always admired the brilliance of color in your work without the tendency to be garish. The photos were excellent choices to show the blending technique. I also found it interesting that the editors chose to place an article of Nerikomi after your article. The contrast and similarities in the style, the choice of colors and the separation of colors was a nice in that it helped to define this traditional technique in relation to the newer blending technique you describe. Lots to absorb in the issue!

Got my copy today and just finished reading it. Congrats on the piece. I was wondering what Temperature this work is fired to as I could not find that info?? I know from testing that many of these stains colors shift or go away in reduction cone 10.
Thanks
Mark

Thanks Mark and all!
These pieces are fired to Cone 10 and higher in oxidation.
Colors get deeper and darker the higher they are fired. Often times the color loss is due to the glaze on top, not the stain below. I do not normally glaze anything and I have never experienced color loss ... Even the usual suspects ... pink, lavenders etc ... do not fade.
This year I will be experimenting with oxides and carbonates and such to see what happens when they are added to stained clay. Should be in an article in the late part of the year.

Got my issue a few days ago but didn't have a chance to read it until guests left. Nice article and beautiful photos. I have various stains from decades ago for the urge for color. Now I am inspired. Thanks for the great info and directions. One question ...you mention previously how you use a plastic bag liner in your extruder. Could you remind me how exactly you did that. It made sense when I read it a year or 2 ago.

Thanks John.
I hope you know some Nerikome(i) friends in Japan that you can pass this technique on to. I would be fascinated to see what they do with it as the contemporary colored work they are producing is very fresh and exciting.

Thanks John. I hope you know some Nerikome(i) friends in Japan that you can pass this technique on to. I would be fascinated to see what they do with it as the contemporary colored work they are producing is very fresh and exciting.

The technique is so like Mokume, which I studied while taking Jewelry and Metalcraft classes in college. This technique dates back to pre Samurai sword making in which different metals were folded together to give a stonger metal for tool making. Samurai swords were made of this type of metal folding, for strength and decoration. Today contemporary jewelers us the technique for decoration in jewelry of all sorts.

I have written an article for the January issue of Pottery Making Illustrated on the revolutionary "Skinner Blend" technique of blending colored clay. Colored Clay has been my passion for over 20 years and for the past two years I have been working on adapting this polymer clay technique to our earthen clays.The ease and intuitive simplicity of this process makes using colored clays so much easier and quite frankly, so much more FUN. I hope you all enjoy the article and if any of you do decide to try the process, let me know if you come up with any new twists on it.

Chris, or anyone, can you give me some suggestions on how much stain to add to thick slip to get a nice dark clay? I have a small amount (a few tablespoons) of black and brown Mason stains and I'd like to mix it into my B-Mix (cone 5) clay slip. I'd like to try what Thomas Perry's article demonstrates in the article right after yours. Some hints on how much stain per cup of thick slip would be appreciated! I'll mix them with a stick blender and then pour it on my wedging plaster and wedge. OH!! I wonder if it would stain the plaster?? Helpful ideas, anyone?Ginny C (Happy New Year to all)

I use between 6 - 10% by weight for black and browns depending on how dark you want them .... just mix the stain with water in a sealed plastic bag, make a well in the center of your clay and start wedging. It's messy but wedge until you like the results. Contrary to what people think you don't have to wedge until the color is perfectly even ... you can stop any time you like. No need to go as thin as slip unless you want slip for some reason.

I usually wedge my colors on old pieces of canvas that can be washed afterwards. I think it would stain your plaster though I have never tried it.

I have several colored clay tutorials on my website if you look under clay lessons .... ccpottery.com

I use between 6 - 10% by weight for black and browns depending on how dark you want them .... just mix the stain with water in a sealed plastic bag, make a well in the center of your clay and start wedging. It's messy but wedge until you like the results. Contrary to what people think you don't have to wedge until the color is perfectly even ... you can stop any time you like. No need to go as thin as slip unless you want slip for some reason.

I usually wedge my colors on old pieces of canvas that can be washed afterwards. I think it would stain your plaster though I have never tried it.

I have several colored clay tutorials on my website if you look under clay lessons .... ccpottery.com